Not much to say about this one. It just wasn’t the Cardinals night. They fell behind early, and by the time they scored a run in the eighth on Lars Nootbaar’s RBI double, the Rangers had already tallied 11 runs.
Josh Jung had three hits and three RBI, as did Sam Haggerty. Wyatt Langford hit a two-run homer, and Marcus Semien had a four-hit, three RBI night.
Let’s get into some takeaways from tonight’s blowout loss.
Offense struggles
The Cardinals just didn’t get anything going tonight. When you lose 11-1, you’re not going to have many highlights anyway, but the offense was uninspiring.
The Cardinals lineup has been prolific all season long, and it’s a testament to guys buying into Brant Brown’s approach. But you’re going to have bad days every once in a while, and that was what happened tonight.
St. Louis was held to five hits, scoring only in the eighth. They stranded six runners and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They’ll find their rhythm again, but it certainly was a tough night.
Contreras exits
In the top of the sixth inning, Willson Contreras was hit on the left wrist by a pitch from Jack Leiter. He stayed in the game initially, but Alec Burleson was at first base by the bottom of the seventh.
Granted, the Cardinals subbed out some of their better players anyway at that point, but it’s worth noting that Contreras was on the shelf at the end of last year with a broken wrist from a hit-by-pitch.
That’s something we’ll have to wait for updates on, but it certainly was a scary moment. Contreras didn’t react right away, but after he got to first base, he was doubled over in pain clutching his wrist, and the training staff was doing everything they could to loosen him up.
Hopefully it isn’t too serious, and he’ll be back in the lineup tomorrow.
Libby undone by one inning
To be fair, Matthew Liberatore settled in after allowing all of his runs, but he didn’t have a good start tonight. He allowed a run in the first. That typically won’t beat you with an offense like the Cardinals have.
But it was the second inning that got away from him. He allowed four runs, and the Rangers took a 5-0 lead, which was punctuated by Langford’s home run.
Libby has been pitching great lately, so he might have been due for a bad start. I don’t think it’s anything to get overly concerned about. He’s been on a roll, and he’ll figure it out in his next start.
Burly takes the mound
With the game out of reach, the Cardinals decided to save their bullpen. So, they went to Alec Burleson. He hit Alejandro Osuna with a pitch and allowed a hit to Josh Jung, but he got a double play off the bat of Tucker Barnhart and got St. Louis native Jake Burger to fly out.
When you’re getting blown out like that, you need a little bit of levity, and it was kind of funny to see Burleson on the mound. Sometimes, it’s just funny to see any position player pitch, because you’re not accustomed to seeing him do that.
But Burleson didn’t allow a run and is on Cy Young pace!
Well, not really. But you get the picture.
The Cardinals will look to bounce back tomorrow behind Sonny Gray. First pitch is at 3:05 p.m.